Liver Surgery Round 2

1.21.26

Surgery went great! I am so thankful they were able to get me in so quickly and my surgeon- Dr. Melstrom always takes the best care of me. Going into the procedure we were not sure if they would be able to do it robotically or if they would have to do it open. Since my first liver surgery was back in April, they were not sure how much scar tissue I had and that was what would determine how they were able to operate. But- they were able to do it Robotically!!! 

They removed the portion that lit up in the PET scan and also thoroughly  checked out everywhere else. They took a biopsy of one part that they were concerned about and they even put some green dye on the liver to see if anything showed up.

When I woke up from surgery I didnt have a tube in my nose so not only was I excited about that, I was happy to hear that it was done robotically. Shortly after waking up, they moved me to my own room- the facility at Duarte is fabulous- the room even had its own bathroom. 

A few hours after waking up I started to get a crazy pain in my left shoulder/ heart area- I wasn't sure if I was having a heart attack or if my collar bone broke in half but it was terrible. The nurses explained to me that when you have robotic surgery they fill your stomach with co2 and some of the gas gets trapped under your ribcage and you get a referred pain in your left shoulder. Whoa- it was intense! 

The next morning I started getting muscle spasms in my abdomen and some other pain that felt like I was having birthing contractions. Those went away with some muscle relaxers and since then my pain was very well managed.

That day my friend Lori came to visit me. We went on my first walk and it just happened to be at the same time that the service dogs were there for a visit. I was SO excited! Last time I was at Duarte I wanted to see the dogs so bad but we missed them by a couple days and I didnt get the opportunity. 

My sister in law flew in from Idaho to help my mother in law with the Kiddos while I was out and that was such a huge help because Mike was able to come visit me and the kiddos had THE BEST time. 

I stayed at Duarte for a total of 2 nights. I can't say enough amazing things about the Nurses and the Nurse assistants. They took such great care of me and I am so appreciative of people that choose nursing as their career because it is hard work! 

After surgery, I knew the best way for me to get some rest would be to go over to my cousins for a few nights. Her and her partner graciously opened up their beautiful house in Venice Beach to me and it was the perfect environment for me to be able to recover and rest for a couple extra days. They got me up and out of the house and we were able to sit at some cute coffee shops, people watch, and have some big laughs. A few of my girlfriends also stopped by to take me on short walks and go out to dinner. 

I am so thankful and grateful for the amazing people God has put in my life- weather they are friends, Drs, family, nurses, and everyone who pops on here to check in on me and read up about my journey. I truly feel blessed.